The present invention relates generally to an information processing apparatus, an information processing method, and a program storage medium and, more particularly, to an information processing apparatus, an information processing method, and a program storage medium that are adapted to retrieve, from a database, the information associated with the contents of transferred electronic mails for example.
Application programs are known for displaying characters called so-called desktop mascots on the desktop (or display screen) of personal computers.
The desktop mascots have capabilities of notifying users of the transfer of electronic mails and moving around on the desktop for example.
It would be convenient for computer users if a desktop mascot brings up information associated with a document which is to be inputted for transmission as an electronic mail or has been received for viewing (hereafter, such information is referred to as associated information). In addition, such a desktop mascot would become an object of users' affection or amusement, thereby making the desktop pleasant. The problem here is that there has been no such a mascot.
Presentation of the associated information requires to prepare a database that stores the associated information. However, this takes a lot of time and effort in data inputting for example.